Lily Joy
by Alex Beckett
Summary: What happens when you get a visit from Meredith, and she has a surprise with her? What happens when you throw in a stressed out Alexis and her family into the mix? Read on to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: ***sighs* Y'all know the drill: I own nothing except from anyone you don't recognize. And I won't be making any money off this because everything belongs to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **The idea for this story came to me after the episode in season one that started out with Castle and Meredith in bed together.

**MARCH 2012**

"Rick?" I said cautiously. He was sitting on the edge of our bed, shocked by the news I had just given him. "Please say something. I know this is unexpected, especially since we've only been together for just over a year now, but I _really _ want you to be h—"

My words were interrupted by Castle as he leapt off the bed and held me close, all while planting a very passionate kiss on my lips. When we pulled apart, I was feeling slightly dizzy because of the lack of oxygen, but when I saw the look of delight on his face made me dizzy with joy.

"Really, Kate?" he asked breathlessly. "You're pregnant?"

"Yes, my love." I answered happily. "Almost three months."

Resting his hand on the small of my back, Castle got down on his knees so that he was level with my belly. I held up my shirt with my free hand and ran the other hand through Castle's hair as he began to talk to our child.

"Hey, in there, Little One. I'm your daddy and I can't _wait_ to meet you, and I'm always going to love you, no matter how your life turns out." Castle kissed my belly and stroked it gently before looking up at me. I chuckled at the twinkle I saw in his eyes before he returned his attention to the baby. "I'm going to love you and teach you right from wrong, but I'm also going to make sure that Aunt Lanie, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Esposito and Uncle Ryan will teach you lots of silly things when your mommy isn't looking…especially since we found out last week from your aunties that you're going to have cousins to play with." He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial tone, pretending that I couldn't hear the words that he spoke next. "Your mommy is an extraordinary lady, and I know she loves you with all of her heart. She can't wait to meet you, either, and I know your big sister and your grandmother will be the same way. But don't worry about that right now. All that matters right now is that you're loved _already_ loved, and that everyone in this crazy family of ours will welcome you with open arms."

Castle pried my shirt from my grasp and smoothed the wrinkles out. Standing up, he kissed me on the forehead and pulled me into a warm hug.

"I love you, KB." He murmured into my hair. "I love you _so_ much."

"I love you, too." I whispered back, leaning my head on his shoulder. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

The three of us—Castle, the baby and I—stood in the middle of the bedroom as the whole universe just melted away. We were in what one would call a blissful silence.

A sudden voice floated through said silence from downstairs.

"Hello, up there! Richard? Kate? Alexis? I know one of you is home!"

Castle and I exchanged amused glances with each other.

"Mother is home." He informed me. "She _would_ interrupt something like this…"

I extracted myself from his grasp and looked into his eyes. "Should we go tell her that her second grandchild will be making their world debut in the fall sometime?"

"That sounds like a good idea to me."

I took his hand in mine and smiled as our fingers interlaced. We left the room and descended down the stairs to the kitchen where Martha was at the island, bustling about and humming to herself as she arranged four full champagne flutes on a tray. She smiled broadly when she saw us and began to pour.

"What's all this, then, mother?" Castle wanted to know. "What outrageous thing have you done this time?"

"Come on, Rick." I laughed. "Why would it be bad if she's pulling out champagne flutes and cider?"

Martha stopped pouring. "Bless your heart for defending me to my own son, kiddo." She looked at me curiously and I realized that the wheels in her head were turning quickly. Castle got that same look whenever he went theory-spinning during a case. "You two look awfully happy about something. Never mind what I was going to say…"

I looked up at Castle for permission, and he nodded. I turned back to Martha.

"Well, Martha, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe this will do."

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled a sonogram print out that I had pocketed earlier and slid it across the counter. Martha picked it up and smiled happily when she realized what she was looking at. Quickly putting the picture down, she came around the island and swept me into one of her special hugs that she knew I cherished.

"Congratulations, Kate." We pulled apart and she held me at arm's length with her hands in mine. "Let me look at you."

"Words really can't describe how happy I am right now."

"I know exactly what you mean." Martha squeezed my hands gently. "Your father is going to be so excited when he finds out, won't he?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he's going to be _very _excited when he finds out his first grandchild is on the way. And my mom would've been _over the moon_ about it…" I rubbed my eyes to keep from crying. "Mom's never going to see any of her grandchildren, and it would've meant so much to her, especially considering that I'm her miracle baby."

She pulled me into another hug. "It's okay to cry."

"I'm her miracle baby." I repeated. "Mom lost two babies before me and one after me, and now she's never going to meet _my_ miracle. I'm so happy that I'm going to be a mom, but I also feel really, really lost right now."

I stepped back, and Martha lovingly wiped my tears away.

"You most certainly _are_ a miracle, darling. Your children—present and future—are, too." The older woman's voice was full of the affection of a mother's love. "After all that you've been through in your life, you are nothing _less_ than a miracle." She briefly touched a hand to my belly. "Richard calls you extraordinary, and he's right to use that word because it's the truth, but you know what else?"

"What?"

"Your child will be extraordinary just like you are, _because_ you are the blessed one's mother. Your mother's legacy lives on through you, so I'm quite sure that it will be passed down." She tilted her head to the side and got a far away look in her eyes, as if thinking carefully about her next words, and not for the first time, I wondered if Martha's past had ever crossed with my mother's. "Johanna, wherever she may be, is looking down on her miracle with lots of love and pride."

"Pride?" I echoed. I understood the love part, but where did the pride part come in?

Martha nodded. "Yes. Every mother is filled with pride as soon as they find out that one of their children is about to become a parent, and it doesn't matter if it's the first time or the second, because the pride never goes away." She sighed happily. "I know _I'm _proud of you."

She gave me one last hug before moving on to congratulate Castle. I sat down on one of the barstools, feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the love. (I did decide that it was the pregnancy hormones that made me feel that way) One of the things I loved most about Martha is that she's never tried to replace my mother, but she always knows exactly what to say to make me feel loved.

"Kate?"

"Kate!"

"KATE!"

I snapped out of my reverie to find Castle looking at me.

"Sorry." I apologized. "What was the question?"

"I asked if you've seen Alexis since this morning."

My heart sank as I thought of the girl I loved as my own. She had been in a really bad mood this morning and left without saying where she was going.

"No, I haven't seen her." I answered. "She sent me a text a little while ago, and said that she's okay, but she didn't say where she was or what she was doing."

He sighed. "Well, I hope she lightens up soon. I need the old Alexis back."

"So do I, Castle." I agreed. "So do I."

Just this past fall, Alexis left home to go to school at Oxford University in England. She'd been happy to go at first, but then she was heartbroken to find out that her boyfriend, Ashley, didn't make it in, even though they had applied on the same day. After a long talk, they decided that education was more important and that things would be better if they were just friends, so they broke up.

Things were going good for Alexis at school for awhile, especially since she kept in regular contact with Ashley, but a month hadn't even gone by before we started noticing unsettling changes in her behavior and appearance during our Skype sessions. Alexis dismissed it as being homesick, but the detective in me knew that she was lying to us. Alexis was _depressed._

And then, two days ago, she came home for Spring Break, but threw us for a loop when she announced that she had withdrawn from Oxford and wouldn't be returning. In atypical Alexis fashion, she refused to tell us why. Whenever we _do_ try to get close to her, she freaks out and either shuts down or runs away to her room to play her violin.

Martha looked down at her watch.

"Well, it's almost dinnertime." She noted. "Alexis _is_ her father's daughter, so that means we don't have too long to worry about when she comes home."

"I can't argue with you on that one." I rubbed my belly to calm the baby down. It kept doing lots of little flips, and it made me uneasy. "Dinnertime is like a homing beacon for that kid, especially since she's been eating everything in sight since she got back…"

Realizing what I said, I stopped to think as the detective part of my brain engaged itself again.

First Alexis has frightening mood swings and is completely closed off, and now she's eating everything in sight…?

Oh, my God…

Is Alexis…_pregnant…?_

Nah…

She's only _nineteen!_ She couldn't be.

Not _our _Alexis…

A ringtone sounded from Castle's phone, causing me to look up. I watched as he picked up his phone and watched him read a text before turning back to Martha and me.

"It's from Alexis." He had a puzzled look on his face. "She wants to know if we have peanut butter and _marshmallow fluff…?_"

We didn't have a chance to process his words properly because the front door banged open. Turning towards it, we saw Hurricane Alexis herself blow in. She was in her own little world as she put her things away, and she looked even more lost than we saw her this morning.

The poor thing was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice us until she pushed her sunglasses back into her long red hair and gasped at the sight of her face.

Martha busied herself with making a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich, knowing full well we had all of the ingredients on hand because I had bought them last week.

Alexis saw her father and me and ran to us. Castle caught her in his arms and I hugged them both.

"Hey, Pumpkin." Castle kissed the top of his daughter's head. "What's wrong? We can make it better."

"No, you can't!" Her voice was muffled as she buried her face in her father's shoulder. "There is _nothing_ that can make this better!"

"Lex," I stroked her hair and she looked up at me. "Will you at least sit down at the table and tell us about it?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when her stomach growled loudly.

"All right," she sat down at the table and we joined her. "But I was serious about the peanut butter and marshmallow fluff."

"Right here, darling." Martha came over and placed a plate of her granddaughter's cravings (and a glass of milk) in front of her.

"Do you want to talk now?" Castle asked gently.

"Not now." She replied as she regarded us with the same look Martha had given us right before we told her about the baby. "Besides, I think there's something that you want to say." She began to eat her sandwich without another word.

She had obviously picked up on the fact that there was something that we knew that she didn't. It didn't help matters that she was completely on edge about something else.

I spoke to Alexis tentatively. "Sweetie, how do you feel about being a big sister?"

Alexis blinked in surprise and swallowed what she was chewing before pushing her plate back. She reached for her battered notebook next to her on the table, the one that she hasn't been without since her return, and flipped to a specific page before holding it close to her chest.

"Honestly, Kate?" her voice was scratchy from her tears. "I swear I'm thrilled to pieces." She attempted a weak smile. "I've always wanted a little brother or sister."

"Then why are you acting like this?" I asked. "I understand that you've had your father to yourself for nearly twenty years, but if it's about sharing—"

Alexis held up a hand and shook her head. "It's not the sharing thing. I can do that, no problem." She gave the notebook to Castle. "It's just that your timing isn't the best."

When Castle passed me the notebook, my eyes immediately widened at was on the page. Below a long passage of Alexis' beautiful Palmer cursive, there was a sonogram printout with a very visible view of a fetus. Squinting at the fine print, I saw that while Alexis' name was listed as the mother, the father was listed as unknown. I passed the notebook to Martha.

Castle stated the obvious, but was very surprised. "You're pregnant?"

"Yes." Alexis answered boldly. "I'm almost three months along."

"Same as me…" I mused.

Martha, who had the notebook now, looked at her granddaughter carefully.

"The name of your child's father isn't listed here, Alexis. Is there a reason for that?"

"Yes." She repeated, but this time her voice was hardened and her fingers trailed over the bulge housing her unborn child. "He is _not_ a good man, and I'm glad he won't be around." Her "I'm so in love with this child, and I'll do _anything_ for it, even if that means keeping the identity of the father a secret forever."

Martha chose not to say anything because we knew that she was remembering back to her own pregnancy. She got up and poured herself a drink and offered Alexis her congratulations. Castle and I did the same on the last part, but when all was said and done, a new thought popped into my head.

I turned to Alexis. "Ashley doesn't know about the baby yet, does he?"

"No. He doesn't even know I'm back." Tears were still falling down her face and she wiped them away. "I just have _no_ idea how I'm supposed to tell the one I love that I'm pregnant with another man's baby. It's going to be one of the hardest things I've _ever_ had to do in my life."

A few hours later, when Alexis was more subdued, we were all relaxing. Martha was dancing at the piano while Castle played for her while Alexis and I sat on the couch, listening. I took note of how my young companion's hands were placed protectively on her belly.

"Kate," she spoke suddenly. "Telling you and dad and Gram about the baby was hard, but telling my _mom_ is going to be a _nightmare_."

"What makes you say that?" Alexis' relationship with her biological mother, Meredith Adams, once known as Meredith Castle, is strained, at best. "'Nightmare' is a strong word."

"Because she had me when she was twenty, and was apparently exiled from her family during the pregnancy." Alexis burrowed into my side and pulled the blanket she was using a little tighter over herself. "She's told me lots of things over the years, but there was always one thing that stuck with me the most."  
"What was it?"

"She promised to make my life hell if I came to her and told her that I was pregnant at age twenty or before that."

I pressed a kiss to her temple and spoke in the most reassuring voice possible. "Just remember that _I'm_ the one with the gun. I promise not to let her borrow it if she wants to try anything later."

A real smile appeared on her face for the first time all day. "That makes me feel a lot better."

"I'm glad to hear that." I smiled back. "I would do anything for you, Alexis. I mean that."

_Alexis' Point of View_

I nodded in agreement with her words, just as my phone vibrated, signaling that I had a new text. Opening the message, I paled when I saw who it was from.

Kate noticed and put her hand on my arm. "What's wrong?"

I read aloud from the text. "'Hi, boo. It's your mother, and I'm just about to arrive at your door. I thought I should warn you so you don't have too much of a shock. See you in a second!'"

Kate's eyes widened in shock and she got off the couch to warn the others. I rose from my spot on the couch, dreading the fact that my nightmare that I had just spoken of us probably about to come true as soon as the doorbell rang. It rang two seconds later and I took a deep breath and slowly let it out before opening it.

My mother was standing there, dressed in a very expensive outfit and she had one of her usual fake smiles plastered on her face. Something was different about her this time because in one hand, she was holding the handle of a nondescript suitcase. The other hand was struggling to hold onto the hand of a very fidgety toddler girl who couldn'tve been more than three. She was very unhappy and squawking nonstop at mom to let go of her.

To say that I was shocked by the sudden appearance of my mother was nothing, but to say that I was shocked by the appearance of a little girl who looked like a mini carbon copy of me at age three was a huge understatement…

"Well," my mother spoke in an all-too-happy voice. "Don't just stand there! Let us in!"

I quickly moved aside to let them enter. Dad, Kate and Gram were assembled in the living room, all wearing similar expressions of shock. They regarded her with lots of apprehension, but when they looked at the little girl, they regarded her with curiosity and fascination, and I completely understood why: they saw her resemblance to me, too.

"What's going on, Meredith?" Dad asked mom. "Who is that little girl who ran under the piano just now? Is she your daughter?"

"She has to be." I theorized aloud as I put the pieces together. "That would also make her my sister…"

"Is she mine?" Dad blurted. _"Is_ she?"

A lost memory suddenly resurfaced to the front of my brain and I began to panic. Kate's gentle touch on my arm calmed me down. She was going to say something, but thought better of it as I marched straight up to my mom, who flinched automatically. A little known fact is that she's scared of me when I get mad because I inherited her Irish temper, so they're evenly matched.

I crossed my arms and spoke in a dangerously quiet voice. "You're going to leave her here, aren't you?"

"Alexis…" Fear had seeped into my mother's voice.

"Yes," I nodded, gathering a better grasp on things as the pieces fell into place. "You're going to leave her here, just like you walked out on dad and me sixteen years ago! You decided that your precious _career,_" I didn't even try to hide the scorn in my voice because it felt good to finally be standing up to her. "Because you slept with your producer and decided that that life was more important than your family! Why didn't you want us? Why didn't you want _me?_ What did _I_ ever _do_ to you?" I glanced over at my sister who was still cowering under the piano. "What did _she_ ever do to you?"

Not waiting for an answer, I turned away from the others and went over to the piano. Crouching down, I took a closer look at my sister's whole appearance. There was no question that she wasn't completely neglected because was clean, clothed and didn't look underweight. She was dressed in a bright blue sundress and little white sandals were on her feet. Her long red hair was tied up in pigtails, making me have flashbacks to my own childhood. There was even a splash of red freckles across the bridge of her nose. I shivered when I looked into her eyes because they were full of tears, _and_ it was like looking into my own eyes.

"Hey, precious." I reached out to her and she didn't shrink back. "My name is Alexis. What's yours?"

"L-Lily Joy Stana Adams." She hiccupped. "You can call me LJ."

"Okay, I'll call you LJ." I agreed. "How old are you?"

"Three." She answered as she held up four fingers.

"Close enough."

LJ edged closer to me. "Are you my sister?"

"I think so."

She nodded, processing my words. "That's good, because I like you."

"Would you like me to hold you?"

My little sister nodded eagerly and ran into my arms as quickly as she could. I stood and shifter her weight onto my hip so I could move around easier. It was a good sign that she had opened up to me so quickly, but I was still worried that her legs were wrapped so tightly around my waist and that her little hands were fisted in the cloth of my shirt for support. LJ's whole body was shaking because of the fear obviously instilled by our mother. My pregnancy hormones made things slightly worse as I did everything I could not to cry about the situation. I understood my sister better than anybody else right now, so I had to be strong for her.

I went back to the living room and sat down on the couch next to Kate and Gram, thankful that mom and dad had moved into the study and that the door was shut. LJ snuggled closer to me as I pulled the blanket over her, and turned to look at the other two.

"Who is you two?" She obviously had dad's natural curiosity.

Kate pointed to herself. "My name is Kate, but you may call me 'Katie' if you want to."

"Katie…" she tried the name out before turning to Gram expectantly.

"You can call me Gram. Alexis does."

"You two is both _really_ pretty." LJ informed them as she sat up and pointed to herself. She had dad's charm, too, because both women smiled fondly at her. "Please to call me LJ. I'm three."

LJ lay back down against my chest and stuck her thumb in her mouth. I prayed that she'd relax, but that wasn't going to happen because her body language let me know that she was literally scared stiff of what was going on. There was obviously no way we were getting anything else out of her because she was behaving exactly how I did sixteen years ago: confused and broken.

_Kate's Point of View_

I looked at Alexis and LJ, and saw how cozy they seemed cuddled up together even though they'd met for the first time less than twenty minutes ago. It was probably Alexis' pregnancy hormones that causing her to be more maternal than she usually is, but that didn't stop my own pregnancy hormones from making my own heart twist up when Alexis began to sing softly to the little girl in her arms. They seemed to be drawn to each other, and now that I saw just how deeply Meredith affected both of her daughters, Alexis' outburst toward her made me wonder about her past…

Martha leaned over to me.

"What are you thinking about, Kate?"

I tore my gaze around from the girls and looked at her. "I'm curious about Alexis' past. I can almost see a dark cloud over her head. And look her now…she's zoned out."

It was true. Even though Alexis and LJ were at the other end of the couch, the older girl was lost to the world for now.

"Hasn't Richard ever told you about what happened when Meredith left sixteen years ago?"

"No." I answered honestly. "I never asked."

"Well… I think it's about time you should know."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes." She nodded. "And I was going to tell you sooner or later because you're family now, anyway."

"I'm listening…"

"There's a dark cloud over Alexis' head because Meredith walked out on them when Alexis was three, and she remembers it like yesterday… and she went into shock and wouldn't talk at all. We tried bribing her with all sorts of things…"

"What made her start talking again?"

"I had a violin concert playing on the TV, and she came over and asked me as plain as day to turn up the volume because she wanted to know what that beautiful sound was. Alexis sat on my lap for the rest of the concert, completely transfixed by the sound of the violin."

"Wow…" I marveled. "How long was she quiet for?"

"Two solid months." My mouth dropped open slightly. "I bought her a violin the day after that and Richard started her on violin lessons two days later, and she's been a different girl ever since… But now, with arrival of her mother and sister, Alexis is afraid of history repeating itself. Things are different this time around because she's pregnant _and_ she has a sibling to protect."

"That's true…" I agreed.

"And knowing Alexis, she's going to worry more than you are about bringing a child into a family as odd as ours."

I rested a hand on my belly and looked from Alexis and LJ over to the study where Meredith and Castle's voices could be heard from behind the closed door.

"Well, I hope for the sake of everybody in this room that Rick and Meredith sort themselves out soon. We _need_ a happy ending."

_Castle's Point of View_

"What the hell is wrong with you, Meredith?" I demanded. "Why are you letting the cycle repeat itself?"

"It's happening because I _never _wanted to _be_ a mother!" She fired back. "I _didn't_ want to become a mother _twice, _much less _once!_ I only did it for you, Rick!"

I was suddenly taken aback by her words. They felt like a punch to the gut.

"What are you _talking_ about?"

"Nineteen years ago, in the aftermath of making Alexis and finding out she was on the way, I realized that I didn't want her at all. Having a child, _especially _when I was twenty, was a _big deal._ Yes, I was concerned about my career, but I was also worried about what my parents were going to say because I knew they were going to freak out. My mom adored me—her _only_ daughter—and I was my daddy's girl." I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her because like always, she was making everything about her. "Mom told me to never come home again, and she couldn't even look me in the eyes when she said it because she was so ashamed of me. My dad told me I was dead to him and cut off my trust fund, and I lost a lot of things in the process. I had to start my already lousy career over from scratch, and I could only stay around the ones who burdened me for so long!"

"I'm sorry," I said sarcastically. "But what does leaving your husband and daughter have to do with 'doing it for me'?"

"Because I never wanted Alexis, but when I told you she was on the way, you were so _happy…_" she explained. "I decided right then and there to keep her, just for you and when I saw you hold her for the first time, I knew that I'd made the right choice. You loved her right away, so I knew that you would be the better parent for her."

"And it took you _three_ years to leave?" I cried. "If you knew from that early on, why didn't you leave sooner?"

"You would've freaked out more because you have a kinder heart than I do. That's why I kept putting things off."

Too stunned for words, I sat at my desk as my first ex-wife watched me from a few feet away. An image of Alexis coaxing her mini carbon copy from underneath the piano floated to the front of my mind. I looked at Meredith and suddenly had to fight the urge from getting _too_ angry at her. She raised an eyebrow at me, anticipating a question.

"Why in the world," I spoke in a tone of controlled calm. "Did you wait _three_ years to tell you that we made another beautiful daughter? Looks alone prove that she's mine, so don't you dare lie to me!"

"I kept her away from you because you were _happy!_" Meredith stressed. "You have Alexis, a crazy love life, crazy fans, lots of success and lots of women. I won't pretend that I didn't know about you and Gina being back together." She shuddered at that thought, but her voice became filled with a little bit of contempt. "You also have that muse of yours…"

"Leave Kate out of this…" I growled defensively. "And so help me God, if you say _one_ more thing about her or Alexis, I will kick your sorry self back to the curb." Standing up, I pinned her against a bookcase by the wrists. So much for keeping my anger under control… "What are you going to do about Lily Joy? She is as lost and confused as Alexis was when you left the first time! _She was hiding under the piano, for Christ's sake!"_

Meredith loosened herself from my grip and ducked out from under my arms.

"I was planning on leaving her here." She said nonchalantly. "It's not like you could say no to her face, especially since it's just like looking at Alexis all over again…"

She was obviously trying to bait me, so I changed the subject.

"Does Lily Joy know that you're going to leave her here?"

"She does." Meredith nodded. "She's also very curious about you."

"Then why—?"

I was cut off as she wandered something aloud.

"But _my_ question is why you're so protective of Kate? Alexis, too…" She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully; something Alexis does when she thinks. "She seems to have put on a little while weight. That's not like her…"

I immediately fell silent. If Meredith found out about Kate and Alexis' pregnancies, _especially_ Alexis', she'd go ballistic on me. That, and it would be ages before Kate and Alexis spoke to me in a civilized tone again.

Unfortunately, Meredith saw right through me.

"Oh, my God!" Her eyes widened in shock as she figured out at least one part of the puzzle. "Alexis is pregnant?"

My ex-wife stormed out of the study before I could catch her.

Terrific.

All hell was about to break out in Girl Land.

_Alexis' Point of View_

The sudden movement of LJ sliding off my body and onto the floor; and a hand yanking me to my feet brought me back down to earth with a loud crash. I found myself face-to-face with mom, and she didn't look too happy.

"What the hell, mom?" I winced in pain from the hold she had on my wrist. "What are you doing? That _hurts!"_

I looked at dad, Gram and Kate, praying that they would help, but they were all too stunned to do anything…or even move. Poor LJ was saddled on Kate's hip and was clinging to her for dear life. She wasn't watching the scene because her face was buried in Kate's hair.

"Are you pregnant? Don't lie to me!"

I tried to fight back since the others were being useless, but mom's grip on my wrist intensified.

"Why are you doing this? I don't like it! Please stop!" I felt as frightened as LJ probably was.

"Answer me, Alexis Katherine!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kate's eyebrow quirk at the mention of my middle name.

"Okay!" I yelled. "Yes! Yes, I'm almost three months pregnant. This baby was unplanned, but that doesn't matter!"

Knowing it was hopeless, I tried to fight back, but the sunlight reflected off a diamond ring on my left ring finger that I had kept carefully concealed until now. Mom let go of my wrists but caught my left hand in her hand so she could see what the sunlight was bouncing off of. When she realized that it was an engagement ring, she dropped my hand as if she'd been scalded.

Mom was clearly outraged. "You're pregnant _and_ engaged? YOU'RE ONLY NINETEEN! YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!"

I cursed inwardly. In all of my worrying about the baby and coming home from Oxford, I'd forgotten to take off my engagement ring. The baby's father had proposed to me right before I left England, and even at that, it was only because of the baby. I knew things wouldn't work out, so I turned him down. He put the ring on my finger anyway and told me to think about it, saying that I could still change my mind. My family hadn't seen the ring because I was out of the house all day.

"I _was_ engaged." I stressed to her. "But things didn't work out, and I forgot t—"

SLAP!

Mom yelled a really bad word and slapped me hard across the face. I crumpled to the floor instantly and began to zone out. I was too surprised by what mom had just done to even cry. LJ slipped out of Kate's arms and ran across the floor, yelling at mom in her three-year-old anger before wiggling herself into my arms and making me hug her. It was only the feeling of my sister in my arms that kept me anchored to reality.

_Kate's Point of View_

Castle, Martha and I came to our senses only after LJ let herself out of my grasp and ran to comfort her big sister. Martha went to hold both of them while Castle and I advanced on Meredith.

"Get out!" Castle yelled at her. "Get out and never, _ever_ come back!"

"I was just giving Alexis what she deserved!" Meredith retorted. "She knew _exactly_ what would happen if I found out what that she was pregnant before she turned twenty. I warned her about exactly what I would do, and I wanted to keep her from making the same mistakes as me!"

Looking at Castle, I saw the look on his face and realized that he was going to see red soon if I didn't intervene. I stepped in between the two of them, hoping that neither one of them would get too violent.

"Meredith, if you want to leave Lily Joy here, I won't stop you." I had to be calm for the sake of everybody else in the room. "We will take full custody of her, if that's what you really want. We can all go about that peacefully, but _nothing_ and I repeat: _nothing_ gives you the right to come in here and hurt Alexis like you did. She's already had a _very_ bad week, and she _doesn't_ need _you_ to mess it up anymore."

She put her hands on her hips. "What are you doing here, anyway?" Leave it to Meredith to ignore the topic at hand so she could cause more misery, instead. "Has the muse finally become the author's ultimate conquest?"

Her statement really struck a nerve, especially since Meredith would _know_ that Castle and I have been together for a long time now if she kept up with any news. In an effort not to deck her right there on the spot, I closed my eyes and counted down backward from ten to one.

"No, I have not become his _'ultimate conquest.'"_ I opened my eyes. "In fact," I backed up and put an arm around Castle's waist. "I'm his girlfriend now, and we're going to have a baby, too."

For the first time since her arrival, Meredith looked positively thunderstruck, and even a little betrayed. Her tone conveyed her feelings well enough as she glared at Castle.

"How could you do this to me? Kate isn't even famous!"

"Fame isn't everything, Meredith." Castle answered coolly as he pulled me closer to him out of instinct. "In our case, that doesn't matter. It never has. Kate is my soul mate, and I can't believe it took me so long to find her, but I'm so glad I did." He placed a kiss on my temple and I had to struggle to keep myself from turning to putty in his hands. "After everything I've been through in life, I'm more than happy to say that Kate is worth it."

Meredith turned away from us to look at Martha, Alexis and LJ. Since both of her daughters were scared stiff of her, she directed her question to Martha.

"Is it true? Are they together?"

"Well, yes. It's not like they'd ever lie about something as serious as a relationship." Martha looked at Meredith without blinking. "They were bound to each other, long before they realized they were in love."

Meredith looked back at us with a dangerous glint in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but Castle interrupted her.

"I'm going to ask you one more time to leave and never come back, Meredith." He let go of me and led her by the wrist to the front door. Opening it, he pointed to the front hallway. "That's the way out. Kate and I will sort out the adoption ourselves because you've shown us that you're not capable of doing it yourself. When everything is done and finalized, it's going to be a closed adoption because if what happened after last time you walked out on us is any indication, it's going to take LJ years to heal." I knew without looking that LJ was still curled up in her sister's arms. "I don't know if you know this, but you broke Alexis back then, and you're breaking her again right now. It looks like LJ is broken, too, and I'm doing everything I can to keep myself from breaking like I did last time." Castle picked up his ex-wife's purse and handed it to her. "I don't care what you do or where you go after this, but _please:_ stay away from us."

He let her go and she looked at her daughters who were both purposefully ignoring her. When she looked back at us, I saw sadness in her eyes for a few brief seconds.

Before leaving, she whispered a single word.

"Bye."

Once the door was shut, Castle leaned against the door and slumped to the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. The sobs that he could no longer contain erupted from his body. I was slightly taken aback because it was the first time I'd ever seen him cry. Trying to be the stronger one, I dropped down onto the floor beside him and took him in my arms.

"It's okay, Rick." I cooed softly. "She's gone, and she's never coming back, so you don't have to worry, my love. It's all over, and I'm here for you now." I touched my forehead to his. "I love you, and so does your mother, and do Alexis and LJ. You are so incredibly blessed, and it gives me joy to be part of your life." I put one of his hands on my belly and held there. This baby is going to love you, too. Our whole family is bound together by love, and as odd as we may be, _love_ is the glue that holds us all together, and it always will be."

Castle pulled me into his lap and held me close.

"I love you, Kate." He murmured in a calm voice. "Always."

"Right back at you." I ran my fingers through his hair. "I am _so_ sorry that Meredith hurt you and the girls, but _I'm_ here now, and I promise to always, _always_ fix all three of you. _We're_ a family now, and I could _never_ hurt any of you." Especially since I had once thought that I had missed my chance to even have a family to begin with…

Castle's voice was raspy from his sobs, but his words made my heart fill up with even more love for him than before.

"You are an extraordinary woman, Katherine Beckett, but that's only _one_ way to describe who you are. I have no idea what I did to deserve a treasure like you."

Tears of happiness were running down my face as I gave him a passionate kiss on the lips, and my voice was reduced to a whisper.

"Then don't think about it, Rick. Just know that I am always yours."

A new voice joined the conversation and we saw Lily Joy standing there.

"Mama?"

My heart leapt in surprise and joy at what she said.

"What did you just call me, baby girl?" I asked breathlessly.

"LJ just called her Katie 'mama'." She smiled a smile that I recognized as her dad's. "Please to sit in your lap?"

"Of course you may, my darling Lily Joy."

LJ's smile broadened into a grin as I scooped her into my lap. The precious child gave me the biggest smile she could manage before standing up and to wipe Castle's tears and kiss him on the cheek. She took his face in her little hands and directed it so that they were looking at each other face-to-face. The rest of the world seemed to fall away as LJ spoke.

"I love you, daddy. Everything is going to be okay now."

_Done_


	2. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**VERY IMPORATANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This edition of Lily Joy won't be updated again, but I'm flattered that y'all still like it :) If you want to see the revised edition, I suggest scooting over to my profile and reading _Lily Joy revised. _I promise it's a great read!

Happy days, my lovelies!

-Alex


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